He also stated the influence of New York's Richard Hambilton, who painted large-scale human figures in the 1980s. Initially influenced by the early graffiti art of New York City after a visit in 1971, he chose a style which he felt better suited Paris, due to the differing architecture of the two cities. His name originates from a childhood cartoon "Blek le Roc", using "rat" as an anagram for "art". He began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats on the street walls of Paris, describing the rat as "the only free animal in the city", and one which "spreads the plague everywhere, just like street art". Blek paints the same portrait of a young beggar around the world, from Europe, to the United States to Australia, to challenge authorities, because “sometimes images have a bigger impact than reality”.Blek le Rat, born Xavier Prou in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris in 1951, was one of the first graffiti artists in Paris, and the originator of stencil graffiti art. That same year, Blek began a series portraying beggars on the street, aiming to shed light on the issue of homelessness. This body of work was a defining moment for Blek, who says, “I became aware of my power and responsibility as an artist working in the public space“. This activation aimed to attract the attention of the media and politicians to raise awareness of her situation. Her portrait appeared everywhere, from her work place at Libération, next to cafés and offices of major newspapers. Following the kidnapping of French journalist Florence Aubenas in Iraq, Blek pasted hundreds of prints of her image around Paris. In the mid 2000s, Blek’s work evolved to become more overtly political. “I want the characters of the paintings to walk out of the museums to give them back to the people of the city” he says. Alongside his rats, these have become his trademark style and have influenced generations of street artists around the world.ĭedicated to the idea of bringing art to the people, Blek often quotes the old masters like Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Guido Reni and Leonardo da Vinci. In 1983 Blek began to paint life-size stencils.
The rat, also an anagram for ‘art’, is in Blek’s mind “the only animal to survive the apocalypse“. He chose a different technique – the stencil – as more appropriate for the French architecture.īlek Le Rat’s first stencils were black rats, seen to be running along the walls throughout the centre of Paris. After his impressions from his visit to New York, Blek Le Rat started painting the streets of Paris in 1981.
After a trip to the USA in 1971, Blek first witnessed the ‘wild style’ graffiti prevalent in New York City. He is the founder of the international stencil art movement. Born in 1951, Xavier Prou (better known as Blek Le Rat), is one of the first graffiti artists in Paris.
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